Successful In-Game Ads: The Secret Sauce for Monetization | Tammy Levy

TA M M Y L E V Y D I R E C T O R O F P R O D U C T, M O B I L E

K O N G R E G A T E

S U C C E S S F U L I N - G A M E A D ST H E S E C R E T S A U C E F O R M O N E T I Z A T I O N

S A N F R A N C I S C O 2 0 1 6

OVERVIEWWho is Kongregate?

4 Case Studies

Epic Skater

Adventure Capitalist

Pocket Politics

Bullet Boy

Key Takeaways

KONGREGATE

KONGREGATE

30 games launched [77.5 M Installs]

KONGREGATE


Latest Game: Pocket Politics, Peaked #3 Games US

KONGREGATE



18 games with ads [55 M Installs]

KONGREGATE



18 games with ads [55 M Installs]

26% of mobile revenue in 2016 from ads

AD REVENUE

AD REVENUE“Quality” of your traffic

(clicks and installs)



Payout set by the apps




Impressions (number of ad views)




Impressions (number of ad views)

we can influence this!

AD TYPES

AD TYPESBanners

AD TYPESBanners

Offerwall

AD TYPESBanners

Offerwall

Interstitials

AD TYPESBanners

Offerwall

Interstitials

Rewarded Video (Opt-in)

Y O U R D A I LY F I L L - S U M M E R 2 0 1 4

LAUNCHGreat Launch

2.5 M Installs

#4 Best New Games

Ads, Not So Great CTA wasn’t great

Watch for coins

Coins were not valuable

No custom stats tracking

ADS REVAMPEDAds 1.5

Interstitials

Ads 2.0 Skate Shop to spend coins

Watch an ad to revive

REVENUE FROM ADS

35%

75% Ads 1.5

Ads 2.0

AR P D AU

INCREASED

IN- APP PU RC H AS ES

CONSTANT

AD S ARP DAU

QUADRUPLED

REVENUE FROM ADS

Ads 1.5

Ads 2.0

LESSONSIntegrate ads into gameplay

Prominent surfacing

Meaningful rewards

Integrate before launch! Don’t miss DAU peak

H Y P E R H I P P O F E B 1 8 T H 2 0 1 5

LAUNCHLaunch Installs: 2.7 M

#3 Best New Games

Excellent ad design Video ad for 2x bonus on all investments

Boost lasts 4hrs

Max 5 ads per day

Added custom stats tracking Measure performance

Implement and track improvements

STATS

E N G A G E M E N T W I T H A D S

> 4 0 % O F D A U 3 A D S / P L AY E R / D AY

R E V E N U E F R O M A D S

4 0 %

PAYER VS NON-PAYER

I N - A P P P U R C H A S E S

N O T C A N N I B A L I Z E D B Y A D S

W H Y D O E S I T W O R K S O W E L L ?

G O O D S U R FA C I N G P E R M A N E N T B U T T O N

BETTER SURFACING

B I G G E R B U T T O N

1 0 % I N C R E A S E D A D E N G A G E M E N T

+10%

M E A N I N G F U L R E WA R D S

D E L I G H T F U L F I C T I O N “ A D V E R T I S I N G I S T H E L I F E B L O O D O F C A P I TA L I S M ”

INTEGRAL PART OF LIVE OPS

I N C O R P O R AT E A D S I N T O

N E W C O N T E N T A N D E V E N T S

E V E N T S

D R I V E H E AV Y A D E N G A G E M E N T

INTEGRAL PART OF LIVE OPS

LESSONSIntegrated

Part of the core-loop

Boost Players happily watch ads that help them

Good fiction

Better UX → more interaction

U LT R A B I T - S U M M E R 2 0 1 6

LAUNCHCharted last weekend

#10 US Overall

#3 US Free Games

Ads followed best practices Integrated into the core loop

Help you progress

RESULTS


> 6 0 % O F D A U 7 A D S / P L AY E R / D AY


3 5 %

P O M E L O G A M E S - S U M M E R 2 0 1 5

LAUNCHWith interstitials too

Multiple opportunities to watch ads Integrated into the core loop

Help you progress

Standardized custom stats tracking Optimize each title

Compare stats across games

R E WA R D E D V I D E O W A T C H V I D E O T O R E V I V E – O N E P E R R U N

R E WA R D E D V I D E O F R E E P O W E R - U P O N T H E N E X T R U N

INTERSTITIAL

P O P - U P E V E R Y 4 D E AT H S W A S T H I S H U R T I N G R E T E N T I O N ?

L O W E R E D F R E Q U E N C Y ( T O 6 D E AT H S )

N O C H A N G E I N R E T E N T I O N

lowered frequency

STATS

L A U N C H E D I T O R ’ S C H O I C E I N L ATA M C O U N T R I E S

1 . 8 M I N S TA L L S


3 0 - 4 0 % O F D A U 5 A D S / P L AY E R / D AY


9 0 %

LESSONSGet Creative

More ad opportunities are good

Interstitials Don’t necessarily hurt retention

Beware of poor UX (you do want to keep an eye on this)

CONCLUSIONA L M O S T D O N E !

KEY TAKEAWAYS

KEY TAKEAWAYS

% of players engaging with ads

MAXIMIZE

KEY TAKEAWAYS


# of ads watched per day

MAXIMIZE

KEY TAKEAWAYS



Ad option per session

MAXIMIZE

KEY TAKEAWAYS




Integrated to the core-loop

MAXIMIZE DESIGN ADS INTO YOUR GAME

KEY TAKEAWAYS





Meaningful rewards


KEY TAKEAWAYS





Meaningful rewards

Placement matters


KEY TAKEAWAYS





Meaningful rewards

Placement matters

Positive experience


KEY TAKEAWAYS





Meaningful rewards

Placement matters

Positive experience

Delightful fiction!


THAN YOU!W A N T M O R E D ATA ?

V I S I T D E V E L O P E R S . K O N G R E G AT E . C O M / B L O G

W A N T T O W O R K W I T H U S ?

V I S I T D E V E L O P E R S . K O N G R E G AT E . C O M

F O L L O W U S O N T W I T T E R

@ K O N G R E G AT E D E V S

TA M M Y @ K O N G R E G AT E . C O M

http://developers.kongregate.com

Successful In-Game Ads: The Secret Sauce for Monetization | Tammy Levy

Technology

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